The Rainbow Dragon
by Mr.Kage-sama
Summary: The group accompanies Sheena on one of her missions from Mizhuho in hunting down an ancient dragon. Zelos gets injured, and is reluctantly. Will Zelos be able to express his feelings for Lloyd, r will hie die with his feelings unknown?


The brown haired boy was laying over him, blushing deeply. "Zelos… I've never done this before," he said nervously, running his ungloved hands up the red head's bare chest. "I'm… I'm kind of nervous."

The red head smirked and leaned up, licking the boy's cheek. "I know you are…" He gently held the other's hands and smiled softly. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

The boy nodded and kissed the red head passionately, holding him in a loving embrace. "Yes…" he said softly against the other's lips. "I… I want to make love to you… I've wanted to for such a long time, but I was so scared to admit it…"

"You sure you're okay having sex with another man?"

The brown haired boy smiled and kissed him softly. "I don't care that you're another man… I just know that I love you…" The two of them fell back onto the bed, sharing a passionate kiss.

"Hey, Zelos!" Lloyd's voice sounded outside of Zelos's tent, waking the red head from his dream. "We got to get moving out soon!"

Zelos groaned as he sat up on the blankets, blowing the hair out of his face. "Already? I was having such a good dream…"

"You awake, Zelos?" Lloyd asked and tried to look through the cloth of the tent.

"Yeah…" Zelos grumbled. Lloyd nodded and walked away from the tent. The red head ran his fingers through his hair and looked down at the blanket that was draped across is lap, noticing the tent between his legs. "Ah crap!" he shouted and flung himself back onto the blankets. "I got to deal with that too." He looked over to the side and sighed, narrowing his eyes. "Damn Lloyd being sexy."

After a few minutes, Zelos stuck his head out of his tent and looked around. The group was all doing their own things. Genis was cooking and blushing while Presea was watching him. Raine was reading and sitting beside Regal, Sheena was checking her charm cards. Lloyd was off talking to Colette. Zelos sighed in relief. No one really noticed that he hadn't come out.

They had chased off the pope, and they had given the king of Tethe'alla the antidote to the poison the pope had given him. The warrant for the group's arrest was finally annulled. Zelos and the others were in his mansion and night had fallen over Meltokio. Everyone was sleeping in their room except for Zelos. The red head was in the courtyard of his mansion, sitting on the stone bench by the pond. He stared at the surface of the water and sighed softly. They had been running around the clock, and once again, it was all for Colette. Zelos knew it was selfish thinking; Colette was dying and they had to cure her. But it was always about Colette. Everyone loved her, everyone fought for her, and everyone wanted to save her. She had family that loved her and friends that adored her. People generally ignored Zelos. He thought that Lloyd noticed how alone he was in his life, he could see when Zelos was covering up his pain by laughing it off, but he wasn't sure how much Lloyd cared. Lloyd was always so focused on Colette… Zelos sighed softly and pulled his knees up to his chest. No one even noticed he was out here in the middle of the night, alone.

Zelos looked up when he head the sliding glass door open from the mansion. Lloyd stepped out slowly, seeing Zelos in the dim light of the lantern beside the pond. "Zelos?" Lloyd said and walked over to him slowly. "What are you doing out here so late?"

Zelos stared up at him and blinked. "I should be asking you that." He forced a small laugh and looked back at the pond. "It's my house. I can sit out here whenever I want."

Lloyd sighed as he walked over to Zelos and sat down by him. "I know you're hiding something, Zelos," Lloyd said and looked at the pond. "You always laugh and smile more when you're hiding something that's hurting you."

Zelos kept his eyes on the water's surface. "Wow, someone actually noticed. But it's not like my feelings really matter."

Lloyd blinked. "What are you talking about?"

Zelos shook his head and sighed. "Just forget about it."

"No," Lloyd said and looked at Zelos. "Tell me what's wrong. I know something is hurting you."

Zelos looked at Lloyd for a moment and sighed softly. "You really want to know?" he asked and Lloyd nodded in response. The red head sighed and looked back at the pond. "I've… been feeling pretty alone lately."

"Lonely?" Lloyd blinked. "Why are you lonely? I mean... you're surrounded be your friends."

Zelos shook his head and stood up, leaving Lloyd with a soft smile. He didn't explain what he meant, leaving Lloyd still wondering.

After a few days, the group made their way back to Mizuho. Sheena had come to visit, and made the group curry. She invited Orochi, but he left quickly after they arrived.

Zelos poked idly at the random lump of pineapple had found in the curry that Sheena had made for the group. Sheena had invited the group over for dinner, along with Orochi. Orochi hadn't arrived on time, so Sheena had figured that he was caught up in a mission. The ninjas of Mizuho were busy people.

Sheena watched Zelos pick out the pineapple chunks with his chopsticks and putting them on the table. She twitched a bit and suddenly stood up out of her chair. "Would you stop that?" she barked and threw down her chopsticks. "Eat it and like it, idiot!"

Zelos stared up at her blankly, dropping another pineapple chunk on the little pile of picked out fruits. "I don't like pineapples," Zelos said bluntly. At the other table, Lloyd and Genis were snickering. They thought it was funny to watch Sheena and Zelos fight.

"Ugh, you irritate me!" Sheena slumped back in her chair and crossed her arms across her chest. "You're the only one who complains about how I make curry."

"You make it weird," Zelos said and continued to pick the pineapple out of his curry.

"Don't eat it then!" she snapped and snatched the bowl away from Zelos. "If you complain, you don't get any."

Zelos smirked at her. "That's fine. Your cooking sucks anyway."

Sheena growled as she set the bowl on the counter by the pot with the rest of the curry in it. "Why did I invite you?"

"Because you love me~" he said and Sheena shook her head, trying to ignore the red head. He leaned back in his chair, twirling one of the chopsticks between his fingers.

"Thank you for inviting us over," Colette said happily, looking down at her curry. "I really like your cooking, Sheena."

Sheena smiled kindly from Colette's comment. "Thanks, Colette. At least one Chosen likes my food," she said, and shot a dirty look in Zelos's direction.

Before anyone could say anything else, one of the ninjas of Mizuho rushed in. "Sheena!" he cried out, dropping on his knee before her. "There is an emergency! Lord Tiga has requested that you and the others see him!"

Sheena nodded and put down her bowl of curry. "I understand." She looked to the rest of the group. "Everyone, let's go."

Sheena and the others sat before Tiga. "We have an emergency," Tiga said to the group. "An ancient monster, the Rainbow Dragon, has broken its seal and escaped. Right now, it is running rampant in the Gaorrachia Forest."

Zelos held up his hand. "I have a question," he said. "Um… what is this 'Rainbow Dragon'? And how is something with rainbow in its name so dangerous?"

"I don't know much about it either," Sheena said. "I just know it's a legendary monster that was said to have been sealed by an ancient Mizuho leader."

"The Chosen of Tethe'alla asks a good question," Tiga said. "The Rainbow Dragon is a powerful and ancient monster. It is called 'rainbow' because it has all eight of the elements within its power. It can mask its aura, and it has camouflage abilities. It's fast, like a lightning bolt."

"Sounds dangerous," Lloyd said.

Tiga nodded. "Indeed. That is why I would like all of you to accompany Sheena as she seals away the dragon."

Sheena blinked. "I have to seal it?"

Tiga nodded. "You can seal it with using the pacts you made with the Summon Spirits." Sheena nodded nervously. "You can do this, Sheena. Your companions will help you weaken it."

"I have another question," Zelos said. "If it's so powerful, then why hasn't it left the forest yet?"

Tiga nodded. "The Chosen as asked a good question. Since the dragon has been sealed for so long, its power has been significantly weakened. But the longer it stays in the forest, the sooner it will be when it is at full power. That is why we must seal it before it gains power."

Sheena nodded. "Understood. We'll take it down before it gets powerful." The group readied their equipment, and they went into the Gaorrachia Forest.

"So…" Zelos said, walking with his hands behind his head. "I have to question why it's always us that have to go save the world."

"I guess it's just our luck," Genis said.

"I was really looking forward to have a laid back day…" Zelos sighed as they continued walking deeper into the forest.

"Stop complaining," Sheena said and looked around the forest. "We need to be careful of the dragon. It could be anywhere."

As they were walking, something rushed through the bushes on the forest floor. Everyone froze in their places and looked carefully around the forest. "It's close…" Presea said, gripping tightly onto the handle of her ax.

Zelos looked around carefully and saw movement in the bushes behind him. "Lloyd, look out!" Zelos cried out and unsheathed his sword. He ran over behind Lloyd as the boy whipped around and the dragon burst forth out of the vegetation and charged towards Lloyd. Zelos guarded himself against the dragon's vicious claws with his small sword and skidded back until he slammed against into a thick trunk of one of the old trees, trapping Lloyd under him. When the two slammed against the tree, the dragon snapped the blade of Zelos's sword and plunged its long claws into Zelos's stomach. The red head let out a cry in pain and the Chinese, multi-colored dragon flew upward and ripped its claws up his chest. "Zelos!" Lloyd cried as the red head dropped to his knees in front of him and dropped his broken sword.

"Damn dragon!" Sheena roared, throwing talismans at the dragon. When the talismans came into contact with its scales, the talismans exploded. The dragon let out a roar and whipped through the trees.

"Go after it!" Zelos snapped, wrapping his arms around his bleeding stomach. "It's gonna get away!"

"But…" Lloyd shivered, seeing all the blood Zelos was losing.

"Lloyd, go! I'll be fine!" Lloyd hesitated before he stood up and unsheathed his swords, running in the direction the dragon and flown off, ordering the others to follow him.

Zelos leaned back against the tree, looking at down at the gleaming wetness of his blood. He laughed weakly, leaning his head back against the trunk. "Damn… those claws went in pretty deep…" He looked in the direction the others had run off. "I wonder… if they'll get back in time to help me… I don't want to die in the Forest of Death…"

Lloyd and the others were deeper in the Gaorrachia Forest, battling the rainbow dragon. The dragon circled overhead, firing down violent blasts of fire and lightning. Lloyd deflected the magical attacks the best he could with his swords. Lloyd looked back down the path where they had left Zelos, who was far from sight, and a lightning blast from the dragon struck the ground near Lloyd's feet and exploded.

"Lloyd, what are you doing!" Sheena snapped, throwing more attacks at the dragon using the elements of the Summon Spirits.

"I…" Lloyd bit his bottom lip. "I feel like I should go back…"

"That idiot will be fine!" Sheena barked, throwing more attacks at the dragon. Genis launched a Spread water spell when Raine stunned it with a Photon attack, and the dragon collapsed to the ground.

The dragon quickly whipped back up on all fours and roared. "It's weakening!" Genis said. Presea and Regal now descended on the dragon, attacking it now that it was no longer air born.

"We can finish this! Lloyd, go make sure Zelos is okay!" Colette called out.

Lloyd looked at Sheena, and she nodded in reassurance. "We can finish this on our own, go check on that idiot Chosen."

Lloyd nodded and sheathed his swords as he ran back down the path towards Zelos.

Zelos struggled to keep his eyes open. The bleeding wasn't stopping; the wounds were too deep. Zelos sighed to himself and closed his eyes. "I'm gonna die here, aren't I…? How lame…" He opened his eyes slowly. "It's… probably better that… I never told him…"

"Zelos!" Lloyd's voice called out from the voice. Zelos rolled his head over slowly and saw the boy in red come rushing towards him. Lloyd ran over to his side and dropped down on his knees beside him. "Just hold on, okay? Raine will come soon and heal you."

Zelos stared at him for a moment. "… Why did you come back? They're gonna need you…"

Lloyd shook his head. "We weakened it to the point that it can't fly anymore. The rest can weaken it enough to where Sheena can seal it without me."

Zelos smiled feebly at him. "You didn't answer the first part of my question, Lloyd…"

Lloyd blinked a bit and looked to the side. "I was worried about you!" His brown eyes fell on the two halves of the red head's broken sword. "That attack was directed at me…" Lloyd looked up at Zelos. "Why did you protect me?"

Zelos closed his eyes. "Heh… Why do I do anything I do? Maybe I'm just crazy…"

"Tell me the truth, Zelos."

The red head sighed and looked at Lloyd. "Do you really want to know?" Lloyd nodded. "Come closer…" Lloyd scooted closer. "You're not close enough…" Lloyd blushed lightly and moved closer, his face very close to the red head's. Zelos gently put his hands on Lloyd's cheeks. He gently put his forehead against Lloyd's and whispered, "I'm in love with you." He pulled Lloyd closer and kissed him deeply. Lloyd's face burned with a deep blush, so deep that his face was the same shade as his shirt.

Zelos is in love with me? Is that why he talks to me and hugs me like he does? How long as he been hiding this? Lloyd thought to himself in a flash. Without realizing it, he had returning the kiss. He deepened it too; his tongue was in Zelos's mouth. Tears welled up in Lloyd's eyes as the two kept the kiss. He could taste blood in that kiss.

Zelos pulled back slowly and smiled weakly. "I wanted… do tell you I loved you… before I died…" He chuckled. "And kiss you… I told you… pretty boys die young…"

"I'm not going to let you die, Zelos!" Lloyd cried, letting the tears steam down his cheeks. "Stop talking like that!"

"I feel death coming…" Zelos said weaker, slumping his head against the tree. "It's… getting dark… isn't it…?"

Lloyd bit his bottom lip. "Don't die on me, Zelos! I told you, I won't let you die!" Zelos's eyes closed slowly. Before everything went black, Zelos saw Raine and the rest of the group running towards them.

Lloyd sat at Zelos's bedside, watching the red head's breathing. The rest of the group had come back in the knick of time. Raine couldn't completely heal Zelos's wounds solely because the dragon's attacks deflected magic healing spells, but it got Zelos out of the grips of death. Lloyd asked to be left alone when they got back to Mizuho; he had a lot of mind. He wasn't sure how he felt about Zelos. Did he love Zelos in return? He returned the kiss without thinking. Genis said he lived by intuition… Maybe he did love Zelos…

Zelos slowly opened his eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling for a moment. "… Wow, I'm not dead," Zelos said weakly and blinked. "That's a shock…"

"I told you I wouldn't let you die…" Lloyd said and Zelos rolled his blue eyes over to look at him. "It's mean that you didn't believe me…"

"So do you hate me now?" Zelos asked and slowly sit up. He winced and Lloyd jumped up from his chair, gently pushing the Chosen back onto the bed.

"Why the hell would I hate you?"

Zelos looked to the side. "Well… I just made our friendship very awkward… I know that you love Colette, not me…"

Lloyd blinked. "What? You think I love Colette?"

Zelos rolled his eyes over to meet Lloyd's. "It sure seems like you do… Everything you seem to do is revolved around Colette…" He looked back to the side. "I don't blame you if you don't return my feelings. I'm a pretty horrible person."

Lloyd shook his head and gently took Zelos's face in his hands. "I don't love Colette." He turned Zelos's face to look at him. "I just care a lot about her. I…" Lloyd blushed, gently tracing a thumb along Zelos's lips. "I think I love you too… I guess… I'm nervous…"

Zelos smiled weakly. "Why do you think… I never said anything…? The first time you noticed I was in pain, even though I was laughing… I fell in love with you. If you do love back… we can keep it secret…"

"Are you sure?" Zelos nodded. Lloyd blushed deeper, kissing him softly. "I love you too, Zelos… Let's just… keep it between us though…" Zelos nodded and smiled warmly, wrapping his arms around Lloyd's neck and kissing him again.


End file.
